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Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyāna Sūtras by Florin Deleanu

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Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyāna Sūtras by Florin Deleanu “Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyāna Sūtras.” by Florin Deleanu Transactions of the International Conference of Orientalists in Japan (TICOJ) 37, 1992, 42-57 Research Reports Mindfulness of Breathing in the Dhyiina Sutras Florin DELEANU Together with the meditation on the impure (asubhasmrti), mindful­ ness of breathing (Pali, iiniipiinasati; Sanskrit, iiniipiinasmrti; variously rendered into Chinese as 'R~)t~~, 'R~)t~, JliiJjjG~jjG1iJl" ~I±l)\,~" ¥,f,~,:@;, ~,~,1iJl" etc.) represents one of the main forms of spiritual cul­ tivation in the Early and Schismatic Buddhism.!) Abhidharma liter­ ature often celebrates these two meditative practices as " the two gates of ambrosia (amrta) i=Jar~,"2) "the two main gates of entering spir­ itual cultivation )\{~~=r~,"3) and" the two paths leading to Nirva.g.a Jl@i1E~='f.I."4) Mahayana Buddhism, most notably the Representa­ tion-only School,5) retains mindfulness of breathing amongst its spir­ itual techniques, but its role is much diminished as the dominant posi- 1) In what follows I shall avoid the usage of the rather pejorative term of Hinayana or Lesser Vehicle and replace it with Schismatic Buddhism or Con­ servative Buddhism. 2) Abhidharma mahavibhlifa-sastra JliiJmJ¥~*l'M~?~ilifil (Taisho shinshu dai­ zo-kyo [=TJ) vol. 27, p. 348b16-17), Pancavastu vibhiiia-sastra ::n:.m~rY ilifil (T28, 989c). 3) Abhidharmakosa-bhlifya JliiJmJ¥~{j'!,4rili1il (T29, 117b6), Abhidharma nya­ yiinusiira-siistra JliiJmJ¥~]IIi'i1Eili1il (T29, 671a1). 4) Abhidharmamrta-sastra JliiJm.if4,*~ffiI (T28, 975bl1-12). 5) iiVe find, for instance, the mindfulness of breathing extensively discussed in the Yogacaryabhumi :fJl«fiJuSi!i±fuilifil (T30, 430c-433b). However, we must note that this fragment is included in the Sravakabhumi and the Boddhisattvabhumi contains only a brief mention of it: "vitarkapratipak~en'anapana-smrtirp." (Bodhisattvabhumi, ed. by Unrai Wogihara, Tokyo, 1930, p. 204); 7.~:':l~kMtii~ ~Ji!!,~{!t11:W,~,~ (T30, 527a2). ( 42 ) tion is now occupied by devotional practices, visualization exercises, meditation aimed at the realization of emptiness, etc. The purpose of the present paper is to examine the treatment of the mindfulness of breathing, especially the relation between" the sixteen bases" and" the six aspects," in the so-called dhyiina siitras or " med­ itation scriptures." The term dhyiina siitra6) represents a reconstruc­ tion of the Chinese chan jing *,-;f,¥, which appears in the titles of a certain group of texts as well as in the writings of Chinese Buddhists of the early 5th century AD as Sengrui {~®1,7) Huiyuan ~~,8) and Huiguan ~M. 9) This group represents treatises or manuals of meditation belonging to or, at least, partly drawing their inspiration from Sarvastivada tradi­ tion. We must not forget, however, that many of the dhyiina siitras are, as it were, a common product of the Buddhist traditions from North-West India, Central Asia, and China. Although the basic ma­ terial of these texts doubtlessly comes from Indian Buddhism, we must not exclude the possibility that they were compiled in Central Asia or that Buddhist monks from Central Asia, who in most of the cases were those who brought the dhyiina siitras to China, had a more or less sub­ stantial influence on the final form of the scriptures in the process of translating them into Chinese. Kumarajrva would be perhaps the most eloquent example of this case. 6) I could find no evidence in Indian sources and Tibetan translations that the chan jing stands for an original dhyanasutrani or something similar. The dhyana siitras represents only a reconstruction whose only advantage is that it suggests better that we are actually dealing with a category of texts which, regardless of their compilation process, contain doctrines and practices that can be traced back to Indian Buddhism. 7) V. T55, 65a-b. Sengrui also uses the term chan yao tli!~ or "medita­ tion summaries." 8) V. T55, 65b-66a. 9) V. T55, 66b-67c. Huiguan also calls such texts chan dian:/lliJlll, or "med­ itation scriptures." ( 43 ) Doctrinally, the dhyiina siltras range from a basically orthodox Sar­ vastivada standpoint to a substantial compromise with Mahayana teach­ ings and practices. In some cases, this compromise is so advanced that it is very difficult to make a distinction between such a text and a samadhi siUra (sanmei jing .::::.!!*g), which represents a purely Maha­ yanist scripture. 10) Texts like An Shigao's *i:!tfeli (fl. 148-170 AD) translations: the Da anban shouyijing **~5t"'f;i:g (T1S, 163c-173a), the Skandhadhiitviiyatana-siitra ~Ff.Ag (T1S, 173b-180b), Sarpgha­ rak~a's Yogiiciirabhiimi-siltra *J!t:Li!!,g (T1S, 230c-236b) (partial trans­ lation); the first 27 chapters & of the present version of Dharmarak~a's ~~~ (239-316) translation of Sarpgharak~a's YogiiciirabhzImi-siitra {~ 1TJ!t±llig (T1S, 181c-223a); Buddhabhadra's 1~1£tJiW:~t!f,i (359-429) translation of Buddhasena's Yogiiciirabhiimi-szItra, also called the Dhar­ matiira dhyiina-siltra or Dharmatriita dhyiina-siltra 3i}li,:~!f,i1lj!.g (T1S, 300c-32Sc); etc. belong to an orthodox Sarvastivada position. On the other hand, we have dhyiina siitras that combine to various extents the meditative system of the Conservative Buddhism with Mahayana med­ itation and teachings. Their way of mixing the two systems is not uniform. Kumarajiva's Mb}li,:!f,i1t (344-412) translation or compilation of the Dhyiinasamadhi-siltra :!t:flj!..::::.!!*g (T1S, 269c-286a), although 10) Mizuno K6gen 7j(!Jlf5.L5I; distinguishes in his" Introduction to the His­ tory of the Meditation Doctrines in China before the Formation of the Chan School" 1lji*!ilt:s'L£J.MO) /7- 0)1ljitE,I[I,;f~5!:.J'f~3t (Komazawa daigaku kenkyu kiyo ,~rR*"f:1i7fYE{f,C§lf, No. 15, March 1957, p. 20) between a broad sense of the chan jing/zen kyo :fljim£ which encompasses all sources used by the Buddhist practitioner as reference materials for his practice and a narrow sense which refers only to the meditation manuals compiled by the Yogacarins of North­ 'West India. It goes without saying that my usage of the term dhyana sutras belongs to the narrow sense. However, lVlizuno includes many samadhi slltras in his list of chanjing in the narrow sense Cid., pp. 21-23), which seems to me to be a rather loose usage of the term chan jingo Despite all difficulties of distinguishing some chan jing from the sanmei jing, I think it is, nevertheless, more appropriate to treat the two categories separately. ( 44 ) largely based on traditional meditative practices and theories, deals in its last part with the spiritual cultivation of the Bodhisattva and at­ tempts to encompass the two paths in a harmonious pattern. Other texts like Kumarajiva's translations: the Chan mi yaofa jing :flli~§lf~$£ (TIS, 242c-269c), the Siwei lile yaofa }l!kltrua.§lf~ (TIS, 297c-300c); Dharmamitra's ~.~~ (356-442) translation of the Wumen chan jing­ yao yongfa 3i~~:flli$£§lfm~ (TIS, 32sc-333a); Juqu Jingsheng's m.~ Ji'(Ff (5th century AD) translation of the Zhi chanbing mi yaofa ~M}jim ~§lf~ (TIS, 333a-342b); etc., although still indebted more or less to the meditation system proper to Conservative Buddhism, include a considerable number of Mahayana practices and theories or re-inter­ pret traditional methods in a Mahayanist spirit.!l) Although the textual formation of many of these dhyana sfitras re­ mains a very complicated process, the original texts or, at least, much of the meditation practices and doctrines, especially those associated with Conservative Buddhism, can be traced back to the Kashmirian Yogacara school belonging to the Sarvastivada tradition. Most of these meditation manuals were compiled or, at least, reflect the prac­ tice and theory of the Sarvastivada Yogacarins of the first four cen­ turies of our era. We know that long before the rise of the Vijfianavada or Representation-only Yogacara school, a certain group of " masters of spiritual cultivation" or Y ogacarya ~{1Jngijj, specializing in medita­ tion, were active inside the Sarvastivada tradition, especially in Kash­ mir and North-West India.!2) Abhidharma literature, especially the Abhidharma mahavibha$a-sastra, offers an abundance of examples of the Y ogacaryas being quoted as a most reliable source.13) Apart from 11) I have included in the list above only the major extant dhyiina SIUras. 12) On the Kashmirian Yogacara school, v. Paul Demieville, "La Yoga­ carabhilmi de Sailgharak~a," BEFEO, Tome XLIV, Fasc. 2, pp. 340-2. 13) Nishi Giyil W#;-a$, "The Yogacaryas and Their Role in Schismatic Buddhism " ~M19t?ffi:lcfjNt -3 ~1iJp~iji !::: -'t (7):f'kt1j, Bukkyo kenkyi119~?ffi:1i7f~, Vol. 3, No.1 (1939), pp. 1-48. C 45 ) their role in the formation and development of the Sarvastivada sys­ tem of spiritual practice, the Sarvastivada Yogacarins composed their own meditation manuals and treatises which represent the dhyiina siitras in their original form.1 41 These dhyiina siitras clearly show that the Y ogacarins were more interested in the concrete details of the spiritual training than in the philosophical speculations of the Abhi­ dharma and that, although part of the Sarvastivada tradition, they proved to be open to influnces coming from other schools and Maha­ yana Buddhism. It is quite possible that on the base of their dis­ coveries and insights resulting from their spiritual quest as well as under the pressure of the growing Mahayanist trend around them, this group of " masters of spiritual cultivation" or, at least, a part of them were led to elaborate new theories and practices which, eventually, served as the base of the Representation-only school.1 51 However, much of this historical process of transition from the Sarvastivada Yogacara to the Vijiianavada Yogacara remains to be elucidated. And we must not forget that, as Demieville aptly puts it, "for whoever takes the risk of making the history of Indian Buddhism according to Chinese texts, prudence is a must, not only in chronological mat­ ters."161 As I have already shown, mindfulness of breathing is a central prac­ tice in Conservative Buddhism and it loses much of its importance in Mahayana.
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